


between now and then

by plinth_of_life



Series: among the wildflowers [2]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Babies, Established Relationship, Ficlet Collection, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Near Future, Parenthood, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, timestamps, will update tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25610137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plinth_of_life/pseuds/plinth_of_life
Summary: little moments between the end of "baby bluebird" and the beginning of "orchid child", documenting Dan and Phil's first years of parenthood.based on prompts from readers <3
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: among the wildflowers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853197
Comments: 14
Kudos: 30





	1. positively yours

**Author's Note:**

> do you have an idea for what you'd like to see in this series? are there any moments in this timeline you'd like me to write about? let me know on tumblr or in the comments below!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dan and phil get some exciting news.
> 
> this chapter is set immediately after the end of "baby bluebird"
> 
> thanks to @panlesters for the prompt <3

“Alright, can you open the fuckin’ voicemail already?”

Dan turned off the camera and started pacing again, circling around the lounge. His hands were in his hair, holding his head down as if it were about to pop off, which Dan could’ve sworn was about to be possible.

“Fine, I suppose I’ve made you wait long enough…” Phil replied with a coy smile. Dan glanced over to see his husband slowly drag his phone out of his pocket and lazily tap at the screen. 

“You sure have, you goddamn tease,” Dan muttered. He plopped himself back down on the sofa next to Phil and laid his head in his husband’s lap.

Dan felt chills run down his spine as he watched Phil tap the play button on the recorded message. As the doctor began to speak, he braced himself for whatever was about to come.

_“Good afternoon, Mr. Lester. This is Dr. Friedman calling from New Hope Fertility with the results from your most recent IVF cycle.”_

Dan’s thoughts taunted him, racing frantically as he struggled to focus on what the doctor was saying. Why wouldn’t he just say it straight out if the results were good? Why would he lead up to it like that otherwise? Dan felt like he was underwater, unable to hear much of anything above the surface until—

“ _...positive.”_

Dan instinctively reached for Phil’s hand and gripped it tightly, some assurance that whatever was happening was real.

Phil paused the voicemail, not needing to hear about the rest of the details at the moment. Right now, both men only had one word on their mind.

_Positive._

“Phil…”

Dan looked up at his husband through watery eyes. Phil said nothing, just grinned down at Dan, still resting in his lap.

“Is that… Does that mean…”

“We’re having a baby, Dan.”

Dan sat up and grabbed his husband by the shoulders.

“We’re having a baby…” he murmured, trying out the words to see if they felt anymore true.

“We’re having a baby!” Phil shouted, leaning in and pressing a fervent kiss to Dan’s lips. 

As they kissed, Dan’s mind raced with thoughts about doctor’s appointments to schedule and furniture to buy and family to tell. But, as they pulled away and Phil brought the scrapbook into his lap, all those thoughts disappeared at the sight of a single glowing little dot.

“Hey there, Bluebird,” Dan murmured, running his finger across the sonogram, his eyes transfixed on that little dot. 

_Their_ little dot, their future child, their tiny glowing ray of hope.


	2. not for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie finds a toy that does not belong to her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is set two years before the beginning of "orchid child"
> 
> thanks to @panlesters for the prompt <3

“Phil?”

Phil looked up from his laptop to see Dan’s head poking through the door frame of the office.

“Yeah?” Phil replied with a puzzled expression.

“Where’s Jamie?”

“I thought she was with you…”

Dan cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

“I thought… she was with you?”

Phil sighed and got up from his desk but just as soon as he stood up, he froze in place at the sound of a high-pitched squeal coming from down the hall. Coming from…

“The bedroom? Why is she in there?” Phil asked frantically.

Dan simply huffed and turned around, leaving the office to presumably run off to the room in question.

Phil gave him a few seconds. He assumed Dan would just grab their daughter and come back unless something happened.

But what if something  _ did _ happen? Phil’s heart started racing in his chest. What if Jamie got herself into trouble? She was only two and still too young to be left unsupervised. They were sure to babyproof the whole house years ago but they still could have missed something.

With much haste, Phil ran from the office and down the hall, hoping his little girl was okay. He flung open the bedroom door and looked down at where his daughter was sitting.

She seemed surprisingly content, sitting in the corner of the room, her back to Phil, playing with something he couldn’t quite make out. But he got the idea when he looked up to see Dan’s horrified expression.

“Hey, little bird. Whatcha got there?” Phil asked timidly, crouching down to the toddler’s level.

She looked over her shoulder at him with wide eyes and grinned, holding up a rubbery black rod.

“Papa, look! Squishy!”

Phil gulped and looked back up at Dan, who looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

“I… uh, I see that, sweetie. But that’s not one of your toys, is it?”

Jamie pouted and turned back to face the corner, still waving the silicone rod in her hands.

“It’s Papa’s toy!”

_ “Dan!” _

The toddler dropped the toy and slowly stood up, walking over to where Phil was still crouched.

“Papa toy?” she asked innocently.

“Well, it’s really been more of Daddy’s toy lately…” Phil mumbled under his breath.

Dan gave him a gentle kick and crouched down beside him.

“Yes, sweetie pie, and remember the rule about toys?”

Jamie blinked at him blankly. Dan sighed and chuckled to himself before continuing.

“We always ask before we play with someone else’s toy, right?”

Jamie smiled and nodded.

“Okay! I play with Papa toy?”

Phil tried to hold back a smile at his adorably mischievous little girl.

“No, James, you cannot have my toy.”

Without another word, Jamie turned around, picked the rod back up and resumed waving it back and forth.

“James, what did I just say?”

The little girl whipped her head around and smiled ever so sweetly at her two fathers.

“I ask first!”


	3. we've got you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan is having a bad mental health day, leaving Phil to figure out how to teach their daughter what this means.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is set about a year before the beginning of "orchid child"
> 
> this one's not based on a prompt but instead just a little hurt/comfort parent!phan for a friend who could use some love rn <3
> 
> (I have a couple prompts I'm in the process of working on but I promise those will be out soon!)

Phil had an idea of where the day would go from the moment he awoke. When he opened his eyes, the fuzzy outline of his husband beside him was clear enough for Phil to make sense of. Dan was laying on his back, not quite asleep but not totally awake either. He was staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression but Phil could tell there was a lot going through his head this early in the day. So, after giving Dan a gentle pat on the shoulder and receiving no response in return, Phil began the routine he and his husband knew so well on these darker days. 

He rolled out of bed and put on his glasses, pulled on a t-shirt he’d thrown aside last night, and left the room as quietly as he could, hoping the littlest member of the family was still asleep. But, as he was carefully closing the bedroom door behind him, Phil almost jumped in shock at the sight of his three year-old suddenly at his side.

“Papa? What you doin’?” the little girl asked quizzically, tilting her head up at her father.

“Nothing, James. How about we go downstairs and—”

“Daddy comin’?”

Phil sighed and kneeled down, facing his daughter at eye level. He and Dan had never had to talk about his depression with Jamie before. Phil had developed an expertise at escorting her away from the bedroom and keeping her distracted from anything that was different than any other day. But she was getting older, and with that, a whole lot more curious.

“Daddy needs some alone time right now, baby.”

“But why?”

“Because… because he needs his rest. He’s not feeling very good today.”

Jamie gasped and put her tiny hands over her open mouth. Phil would find it incredibly adorable in better circumstances.

“Daddy sick?!”

Phil let out another resigned sigh and scooped his daughter up, thinking it better to move to the kitchen and give Dan some actual peace and quiet.

“No, Daddy’s not sick. He’s just a little sad today, that’s all,” Phil responded, speaking softly as he carried Jamie down the stairs.

He could see her little bottom lip jut out at his comment and knew he was probably messing something up. Dan was always better at explaining these sorts of things to her but Phil tried his best.

“Why Daddy sad?” Jamie’s voice was noticeably quieter, her posture more slumped, and her face now buried in her father’s shirt.

Phil bounced her in his hold as he walked into the kitchen. It made his heart so full to know how much this child cared for her two dads but it pained him to see how defeated she was beginning to look.

“Everyone has good days and bad days, yeah?” Jamie nodded slowly, still cuddled into Phil’s chest. “Well, some people’s bad days can make them really tired or even a little sad. That can happen to Daddy sometimes, but I promise you he’ll feel better pretty soon.”

Jamie finally looked up at Phil, her big brown eyes slightly wet and full of love.

“You ‘n’ me make Daddy better?”

Phil giggled and pressed a kiss to his daughter’s forehead.

“Yeah, you and me, kiddo,”

…

 **Phil:** Ok if I let a little birdie come visit you? 🐦

 **Dan:** yeah that’d be good

 **Dan:** ...unless ur talking about the pigeons outside. then im legally allowed to kill you

 **Phil:** 😘

…

Phil could barely get the door open before Jamie started running into the bedroom. He started hearing a strange flapping sound as she ran past him but realised it was coming from a piece of paper she was holding that he somehow hadn’t noticed earlier.

“Daddy! Daddy! Look at dis!”

“Jamie, remember, quiet voice right now.” Phil said softly, spotting the slight wince in Dan’s expression.

“It s’okay, babe,” Dan murmured, sitting up in bed. Phil grinned at the way Dan’s face lit up upon seeing their daughter bound into the room. “Hi, sweetie pie! Whatcha got there?”

Jamie shot Phil a wary look when she reached the edge of the bed.

“Papa, is snugglin’ with Daddy okay when he’s sad?”

Phil chuckled and walked over to where Jamie stood. His smile felt like it was about to crack in half when Dan started making grabby hands at the little girl.

“Come here, sweet girl,” Dan cooed. Phil lifted their child high into the air, sending her into a fit of giggles and depositing her back down onto her other father’s lap. “Can I see what you drew on here?” Dan gestured to the paper, still clutched tightly in Jamie’s little fist.

Jamie nodded eagerly. She unfolded the paper and held it up, perhaps a little too close to Dan’s face. But both he and Phil were able to make it out pretty quickly. In the center was a very tall stick figure with a big, swirly mass of looping lines on the top of its head and holding its hand was a much smaller stick figure with longer, but just as loopy, hair. All around the two figures were a mess of pink scribbles, some resembling something close to hearts.

Phil started chuckling, deep and warm and filled with fondness for the little girl sitting in his husband’s lap. He could see that same fondness in Dan’s eyes as he held the child close, even if his eyes were starting to tear up a little too.

“You made this for me?” Dan murmured, his voice croaky and soft.

“Yeah! Wanna make you happy, Daddy,” she replied simply.

Dan looked up at Phil then with eyes even closer to brink of tears, giving him a look that spoke more than words ever could.

_Thank you._

  
  



	4. walk with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jamie takes her first steps, with a little help from her dads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is set about three years before the beginning of "orchid child"
> 
> thanks to saph for the prompt <3

“ _ Dan! _ Get the camera!”

Phil’s call sent Dan hurrying to the office in seconds. There had been a lot of false alarms but he had a feeling this one was the real deal.

“Coming!” he replied, bounding down the stairs and towards the lounge, where his 13 month-old was standing, her hand clasped in Phil’s.

Dan gasped dramatically and bent down to look at his daughter with an over-the-top smile.

“Is someone about to start walking? I think she is!” he cooed, getting on his knees and extending his arms out towards his daughter.

“She was just cruising along with Papa earlier, weren’t you, Jamie? Do you think you can walk on your own, baby?” Phil added, talking in his high-pitched baby voice the entire time, even though most of what he was saying was directed at Dan.

Jamie gurgled and took a step towards Dan, still leaning heavily on Phil’s hand.

“Wait, wait, just let me get the camera ready before you get going, sweetie pie,” Dan murmured, turning on the video camera, one they used for home movies of their daughter more than YouTube videos these days.

But, as soon as Dan pointed the camera in Jamie’s direction, the toddler stopped in her tracks. Her face crumpled and she plopped to the ground with a pout.

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong, little bird?” Dan asked softly, setting the camera down and placing a gentle hand on his daughter’s leg.

Almost as if in response, Jamie stood back up and started smiling again, like nothing wrong had just happened. Phil started to laugh and Dan couldn’t help but join in.

“Is the camera scary, baby? Do you want to walk to Daddy instead?” Phil said with a chuckle.

Dan thought it best to look at his little girl with no camera obscuring his face. He smiled brightly at her and opened up his arms.

“Come to Daddy, Jamie! It’s okay, it’s just Daddy, no scary cameras this time.”

And like magic, Jamie dropped Phil’s hand and took a few wobbly steps towards her other father. When she reached him, she practically tumbled into his arms and started giggling happily, laughing even more when Dan blew a raspberry into her tummy.

“Look at you! We’ve got a little mover and shaker on our hands!” Phil giggled and kissed his daughter’s head, then his husband’s in quick succession.

Dan looked up at Phil with watery eyes, tears unsurprisingly running down his face. He looked back at Jamie and spoke with a smile still plastered across his face.

“Alright, Miss Incognito, now let’s do that again but this time on video for Grandma.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments, kudos, and reblogs are always appreciated.
> 
> Check me out on tumblr [@plinth-of-life](https://plinth-of-life.tumblr.com) <3


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